Washington Excluded from OAS Human Rights Commission
Santiago de Chile, June 12 (Radio Havana Cuba)-- For the first time in the history of the
Organization of American States (OAS), the United States has been left out
of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which recently
ended its 23rd General Assembly in Santiago de Chile.
According to Prensa Latina News Agency, the U.S. administration of George W.
Bush unsuccessfully promoted Cuban-American Rafael Martínez, the brother of
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martínez, for a position
at that agency.
However, Washington's nominee only received 15 out of 33 possible votes.
According to the IACHR, this marks the first time that the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights has operated without a U.S. representative.
The 33 participating countries elected lawyers from Brazil, El Salvador,
Paraguay and Venezuela. Guatemalan Marta Altolaguirre, who has presided over
the panel to date, was not re-elected, nor was Argentinean lawyer Juan
Méndez. Both attorneys have traditionally received Washington's strong
--but now, apparently, not so strong -- support.
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United States and Europe on Another Collision Course Over International
Criminal Court
United Nations, June 11 (RHC) - The United States and several European
countries are once again on a collision course at the United Nations, as
Washington maneuvers to renew controversial provisions that shield its
troops and officials from prosecution for war crimes. The Security Council
is set to vote as early as Thursday on a US-drafted resolution that will
extend for another 12 months a one-year exemption for American soldiers
serving as UN peace-keepers. Observers predict, however, that the text is
likely to be adopted despite extensive grumbling. Tensions over the issue
have been escalating sharply.
Last week, Washington accused the Europeans of undermining its efforts to
negotiate bilateral agreements with foreign governments, under which those
governments would individually undertake not to use the new court to
prosecute US soldiers. In a formal diplomatic letter, Washington said that
EU lobbying of states not to accept its appeals for bilateral agreements
will undercut efforts to repair and rebuild the transatlantic relationship -
in reference to the rift over the Iraq war. But the resolution is expected
to pass precisely because of a desire not to reopen wounds inflicted over
the Iraq controversy.
France and Germany, strong supporters of the tribunal, may nevertheless
register their disapproval by abstaining. Some UN members not represented on
the Security Council, including Canada, were pressing for a special open
meeting of the Council at which any UN ambassador could speak - arguing that
special treatment for the US would weaken the war crimes court. Last year's
vote in favor of the US exemption resolution was 15-0 after Washington
threatened to veto UN peacekeeping missions, one by one. There are reports
that the George Bush administration has been threatening some Balkan
countries with a withdrawal of aid if they do not sign bilateral deals. Last
month Albania became the third European country, after Romania and Georgia,
to sign such a deal. Now Macedonia, Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia and
Montenegro have been told to follow suit or lose US aid and support.
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Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix Lashes Out at "Bastards" in Washington
and Baghdad Who Tried to Undermine Him
United Nations, June 11 (RHC) - Chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans
Blix has lashed out at what he called the "bastards" who have tried to
undermine him throughout the three years he has held his high-profile post.
In what is being called an extraordinary departure from the diplomatic
language with which he has come to be associated, Blix assailed his critics
in both Washington and Baghdad. Speaking exclusively to the British news
daily The Guardian from his 31st floor office at the UN in New York, Blix
accused the Bush administration of leaning on him to produce more damning
language in his reports on Iraq's alleged banned weapons - and of launching
a smear campaign when he refused.
He said Washington regarded the UN as an "alien power" which they hoped
would sink into the East river. Before he had even flown to Iraq to relaunch
the sensitive weapons inspections after a four-year absence last November,
senior US Defense Department officials were calling Blix the worst possible
choice for the post. By autumn he was being branded in Baghdad as a
"homosexual who went to Washington every two weeks to pick up instructions".
Staff attached to the UN monitoring and inspection commission, headed by the
Swede for the past three years, openly say there is no love lost between
hawks in the Bush administration and their mission. Last week Blix sharply
criticized the quality of the US and UK intelligence given to him on alleged
Iraqi weapons of mass destruction as he pronounced an open verdict in his
last report to the Security Council. He said Saddam Hussein's regime might
have hidden weapons, or it might have destroyed them.